Saturday, January 15, 2011

Meet Reince Priebus, New GOP Head

After seven rounds of balloting, the Republican Party has replaced Michael Steele as its head with Reince Priebus, former chairman of the Wisconsin GOP. Before that, Priebus served as general counsel to the RNC.

Reince Priebus (l.) and Michael Steele (r.)

Prior to today's election, Priebus was best known nationally for this infamous gaffe during a conference call with journalists, when he repeatedly called for "Obama" to be executed:

After being corrected by a journalist, he apologized for the error before attacking former WI Senator Russ Feingold, saying, "Some people would just say, well, maybe he just used the wrong word, and that it was just a gaffe from a normally smooth, skilled politician. Well, if that's the case, then it's a pretty major misstep this close to the election."

On his election, Priebus said, "I am here to earn the trust and support of each and every one of you... I am going to start working right now as your chairman... We all recognize that there is a steep hill here ahead of us, and the only way we will be able to move forward is if we're all together."